News

Inaugural Winner of The Wangari Maathai Scholarship Fund Announced

March 26, 2013

Nairobi, 21st March 2013: The Rockefeller Foundation, the Green Belt Movement and Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) today presented the inaugural Wangari Maathai Scholarship Fund award to 22 year old Abigael Ndinda, a second year student at Mount Kenya University, at a ceremony held to commemorate the Wangari Maathai Day.

The competitively-selected award recipient represented the positive values promoted by the late Prof. Maathai, including environmental stewardship, creativity and activism. The US $ 10, 000 fund established by the Rockefeller Foundation was launched on October 22nd 2012, set up to advance Prof. Maathai’s vision of a greener, socially equitable Kenya. It is an innovations fund that seeks to encourage and promote sustainable development through the spirit of environmentalism. Abigael began initiating grass-roots environmental projects soon after high school, in her home village in Matiliku Division, Makueni County. She led a group in tree-planting exercises aimed at mitigating the effects of desertification and conserving surface run-off water, with a total of 5,000 trees planted to date. Further to this, Matiliku Youth Group has acquired a half-acre piece of land from the sale of tree seedlings, which is now used to grow fruit trees for sale to community members.  

When you go out and act, you create an example and people learn from you a lot better than when you just talk to them,” Abigael explained, “we used the resources we had to create a difference in our home area, and we hope to continue growing our conservation efforts. We all have the power to make a difference, the environment is our collective responsibility and coming together to initiate these projects has helped develop our life skills,” she said.

The scholarship will encourage young people to think about development holistically, because without a healthy and stable natural environment, society cannot thrive. Professor Wangari Maathai dedicated her life to advancing social equity by protecting the environment and promoting social and democratic values. The Green Belt Movement has been promoting values such as environmental conservation, volunteerism, accountability & transparency and self & community empowerment to communities throughout Kenya since 1977.  Women form an integral support network for the work that GBM does to empower communities by conserving their environment and improving their livelihoods.

L – R: GBM Kenya's Executive Director Pauline Kamau, KCDF CEO Janet Mawiyoo, winner of the Wangari Maathai Scholarship Fund and Interim Managing Director for Rockefeller Africa Eme Essien Lore at the award ceremony.

Wanjira Mathai, Director of International Affairs at The Green Belt Movement International added: “It makes me proud when I see a young people like Abigael take on the mantle of leadership in environmental issues. The environment remains the primary focus of our organization because of its crucial role in supporting humanity as a whole. Efforts to promote environmental awareness and conservation can never be limited to one choice group - we each have an individual responsibility to get involved.”


The Wangari Maathai scholarship fund is affiliated to the Maathai Award, established by The Rockefeller Foundation, the Midler Family Trust, New York Restoration Project and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation was launch. The Rockefeller Foundation remains dedicated to promoting new ways of thinking around 21st century challenges, and planning ahead of them. The Maathai Award is also granted to public high school seniors in New York who have demonstrated academic and extracurricular commitment to environmental stewardship through sustainability-themed projects.


Innovation has been an important reference point in everything we do; it is the one common element that underpins the greatest solutions that have been found to challenges across diverse fields that range from agriculture, education, health, and many more. The Rockefeller Foundation continues to encourage people to approach the needs to today creatively, and use new ways of thinking to make sure they are ahead of the curve to meet tomorrow’s needs,” Eme Essien Lore, Associate Director at The Rockefeller Foundation explained.

The Kenya Community Development Fund continues to supports development from the grassroots, by supporting initiatives such as these: “Because of our work with communities on the ground, we appreciate the fact that when they build, own and drive the solutions to the challenges they face in their immediate surroundings, a project is more likely to be a success. We are excited to support the inaugural winner of the Wangari Maathai Scholarship Fund as she continues to stimulate change in her home county, and inspire others to become a part of the green movement,” Janet Mawiyoo, Chief Executive Office of the Kenya Community Development Foundation commented.

The Wangari Maathai Scholarship is aimed at encouraging and promoting a youth-led sustainable development agenda. A grant of not more than USD 10,000 will be awarded each year to an individual who has or plans to start an environmental project that promotes sustainable living. The 2013 Wangari Maathai Day was commemorated alongside the International Day of Forests.


Written and Released by africapractice

Diana Ngaira; +254733 120088; dngaira@africapractice.com

Evelyn Njoroge; +254 721704712; enjoroge@africapractice.com